REAL ESTATE - "ATLAS"

Artist: Real Estate

Album: Atlas

Label: Domino

Release Date: March 4^th, 2014

Review By: Sean Kayden

For New Jersey musicians, Real Estate, their third LP is an example of simplicity. They’ve always crafted songs that seem so effortless but also boost much meaning behind it all. Their music caters to the nostalgic kind. “Atlas” is no exception as the band weaves and bobs through the terrain of contemplative material. Their arrangements are a bit tighter and more cohesive than their previous endeavors. Album number three is so laidback that when the album finishes, you don’t even realize 38 minutes just went by. While the music is quite wistful and the purely guitar-driven songcraft is incredibly refreshing in today’s music, I was not at all captivated by this anticipated release. In fact, with the exclusion of the single, “Talking Backwards,” the liveliest track here, I found the rest of the songs to be kind of monotonous. The record from start to finish is unvarying.

“Atlas” is not necessary a bad album. That’s just it. I don’t feel like Real Estate crafted any egregious tracks. The record is fueled by a yearning, reflective resonance. Real Estate’s songs invariably have that appeal. Martin Courtney’s mellifluous vocals are always pleasant, but there’s not a whole lot of range. It is fairly one note from track to track. Ten tracks are to be found, but “April’s Song” is purely instrumental. It has a very cool dreamy sound to it, but what comes to mind is how there aren’t any vocals on it. Makes you wonder if this was simply a leftover track in order to achieve that magic number of ten tracks. There’s some delight with closing piece, “Navigator.”  It’s a relatively slow, easy-going song that sports clear and shining guitars. “Talking Backwards” is a solid track and gave me high hopes for the record. However, it bares an interesting resemblance to the single off their last record, “It’s Real.” While the band wants to move forward with their artistic abilities, it appears they’re really just standing still.

I was very much hoping to be in awe of this record. Perhaps, expectations unfortunately got the best of me because I was savagely disappointed. In the thirty-eight minutes of this record, I never felt enamored by the experience. In actuality, I was rather bored by most of what I heard. The sleepy nature of the record will probably put the listener to a pleasant sleep if that’s what they want. As for me, Real Estate’s third album is their worst. Its meditative approach doesn’t offer much for me that I can’t find elsewhere. By the end of two listens from beginning to end, I felt weary and more distanced toward a band I generally liked. The questions going through my mind were left unanswered by the end. Perhaps the solution all along was just to switch albums, which I did immediately so. 

Grade: 5 out of 10
Key Tracks: “Talking Backwards,” “Navigator”